Vybz Kartel and Shaggy trade shots over dancehall's 'king' debate
Vybz Kartel and Shaggy have traded pointed comments over dancehall's long-running "king" debate. The back-and-forth followed a radio interview on Sept. 23 and an Instagram post on Sept. 26, and was summarised in a Sept. 28 report by DancehallMag.
Shaggy raised the subject first. Speaking to Roadblock Radio on Sept. 23, he said he is 58 years old and described himself as the second-largest streaming act in dancehall and reggae. He said only Sean Paul and Bob Marley sit above him in streaming right now.
He rejected the idea of a single holder of the title. He named five. The list, in his words, was Beenie Man, Vybz Kartel, Shabba Ranks, himself and Sean Paul.
Three days later, Kartel answered in his own way. On Sept. 26, he shared an Instagram Reel in which he lip-synced to a preview of an unreleased track. The caption read: "When you're not a manufactured pop star with little talent and no influence on the culture."
He did not tag Shaggy. He did not name him directly in the post, according to Billboard.
The two artists arrive with very different chart histories. Shaggy has placed three songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, the US singles chart, including the No. 1 singles "It Wasn't Me" with Ricardo "RikRok" Ducent and "Angel" with Rayvon. He has also put 17 titles into the top 10 of Reggae Albums, Billboard's US chart for reggae LPs.
His album record includes a crossover peak. His 2000 album Hot Shot topped the Billboard 200, the US albums chart, and finished at No. 2 on the 2001 Billboard 200 Year-End chart. He has eight career Grammy nominations and two wins for Best Reggae Album, for Boombastic in 1996 and for 44/876 in 2019.
Kartel's recent live record reflects his return to the stage. He was released from prison in August 2024. Since then he has become one of a small group of dancehall artists to recently headline Barclays Center in New York, alongside Masicka and Alkaline.
What makes this stand out is how familiar the argument is to dancehall followers. The "king" label has been claimed, shared and disputed for years, with no organisation awarding it and no sales formula deciding it. This time the numbers were part of the point, with streaming position, chart peaks and awards all cited in the same conversation.
